With the country saying good-bye to the old welfare housing system, many citizens, especially young people, are considering buying a place to live.

The government is implementing a market-oriented housing system and helping people buy apartments.

Yet progress brings new headaches. Among them is the challenge of furnishing a home. It is the first thing new apartment owners have to do.

"It is not easy for us to have a new home, because once you own it, you have to live in it for many years, even the rest of your life," said Wang Xudong, a Web technician for a computer company. "A home is also the symbol of a family. To live comfortably, home furnishing is very important."

It becomes a new expense, however.

"We spent a lot of money on the new apartment, but now we want to spend some money and energy on furnishing it," said Zan Jifang, a reporter from Beijing Review, an English-language magazine. "After a busy day, a comfortable living atmosphere can make you relaxed."

It's a hot growth industry in China. Spending on home furnishings reached 200 billion yuan (US$24 billion) in 2000, up from 140 billion yuan (US$17 billion) in 1998.

Yet, the matter can bring stress to a delightful new experience.

Shen, a medical company salesman, recently moved out of the old, narrow apartment that his father got from his work unit.

He and his wife bought a spacious new apartment, and then set about beautifying.

Before they started, Shen and his wife browsed professional magazines and guidebooks for advice and talked to friends who had done it.

Yet then he discovered the big pitfall. Workers hired to fix up the place failed to meet all the provisions of their contracts.

Li Ming, a company manager, also had an unhappy experience. Li hired a furnishing team from East China's Jiangsu Province on the recommendation of a close friend, but didn't watch the workers closely enough. The result was shoddy work and a wall painted the wrong colour.

Li tried to complain to the authorities, but because his furnishing company wasn't qualified in the first place, he had no ability to take them to court.

A government official identified as Xue, also trusted his friend. He gave the friend money to take care of the furnishings, but the friend cheated him.

"I had to keep my losses as low as possible but accept that there will be deceitful people involved in this business," he said. "Both I and my wife are too busy to spend enough time on looking closely at home furnishing examination."

Others had better experiences.

"The furnishing is just for living comfortably," said Lu, an employee of a State-owned company. "Simple furnishing and high quality are enough. The more complicated the furnishing is, the more losses we have to bear."

Apartment owners shouldn't hire unqualified furnishing teams. After finding a reliable and qualified furnishing team, one must be careful when making a contract, experts warn.

Homeowners must decide how much they want to spend. They should choose the materials and how much paint will be used, among other details.

This would minimize the chance for being cheated or disappointed. It gives everybody clarity about who does what, when and how much will be spent.

The resident also must spend time observing the workers to make sure everything is going as planned, experts say. If there are any problems, apartment owners can solve them in time.

New apartment owners spend as much as 30,000 yuan (US$3,600) on fixing up their place. That's no small sum.

Only after dispelling the dark clouds in the home furnishing process, can people live comfortably in their new homes.

(China Daily 07/17/2001)